Love by Day or by Night
by InuyashaForever1989
Summary: Kagome was your average wolf who fell for a human. The power of her love for him changed her into a human, well that and a little magic. After her love rejects her she is forced to wander alone and in between worlds. Will she find love again? - AU
1. Heart Broken

Love By Day or By Night

Summary - Kagome was your average wolf who fell for a human. The power of her love for him changed her into a human, well that and a little magic. After her love rejects her new form she is forced to wander alone and inbetween worlds. Will she find love again? If she does, will it be as a human during the day in the city streets, or as a wolf during the night in the forest outskirts? Kagome/Kouga

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha . . . Damn.

InuyashaForever1989 - I actually thought of this while waking home from work and almost forgot it by the time I got here, but I remembered, yay me!! Lol. This first chapter there's a bit of Inu/Kag but it will pass.

Inu - What do you mean it will pass?!

Kag - She means what she says, duh.

Kouga - Yeah, mutt face, this fic stars me and Kagome.

IF - That's right so quit complaining 'cause it won't change.

Inu - WHY YOU-- (lunges for IF)

IF - (snaps fingers)

Sess - (Comes out of no where and takes Inu away)

IF - Yay, now on with the story!

--

Prologue - Heart Broken

Kagome sat at the edge of her cage. The zoo enclosure in which she had come to call home was large and looked exactly like her forest home, but she still longed to return. Kagome was a medium sized wolf with black fur and deep brown eyes.

Just a little less then a month ago she had been injured and some humans had found her. When she awoke she was in the man-made forest surrounded by tall fencing. There were others there, but she paid no attention to them. From what she had understood from the humans the rest of her pack hadn't survived and that was what had hurt the most.

Today there was some fuss about a new 'caretaker' or something like that; Kagome never understood much of what these stupid humans did or said. She assumed it to be a replacement for that old man that would drop food off to them daily. Seeing as he had not come today and he was the only human that wasn't there to just gawk at her and the others, she'd managed to figure it out.

Her ears perked up as she heard the sound of the 'door,' as they called it, open. She didn't move from her spot; she didn't even turn her head to see who it was. She heard a soft voice call to them to go get their food and to be honest it caught her attention, but she still refused to move.

She heard soft foot steps come up behind her and then the voice called again, "Hey girl, don't you want to eat?" Kagome turned her head at this and if she could have gasped she would've. The man, their new caretaker she guessed, was fairly handsome for a human; he had jet black hair and honey-golden colored eyes.

He extended his hand to her and proceeded to scratch behind her ear. She leaned into it until he stopped and he led her over to where the food was and he encouraged her to eat some. Truth be told she didn't eat enough normally.

Something was different about this one and she wondered what it could be. The humans here never got her attention, so why was this one different? Kagome looked up at him with a strange curiosity, but shrugged it off and turned her attention back to the food as she proceeded to eat some of it.

Over the course of the next few weeks he came back everyday to feed them. Over that time she had become more and more fascinated by this human whose name she learned to be Inuyasha. In fact, she started waiting for him everyday by the gate.

Today she noticed a few of the others coming over toward her. 'What's up with you?' one of them asked her.

She mentally rolled her eyes, she didn't like these wolves. All of them were born in captivity so they didn't have much in common nor did they share her longing for the outside world. 'What do you mean?' she shot back rudely hopping that they would just leave her alone, they didn't.

'You've been sitting by the gate a lot, are you planning on trying to escape _again_?' another asked her. That one hurt. Some time earlier, before Inuyasha, she had tried to escape but it failed horribly. She shook her head no as her only reply.

'She's totally in love with that human who comes in here, duh,' a new wolf joined the conversation, 'And to be completely honest it's kind of creepy the way you drool all over him.' All the other wolves 'ohh'ed and 'ahh'ed at the statement and turned and left her.

Could that be what was wrong with her? Was that really what this strange fascination was? She shook her head of the thoughts as she noticed that some one was still there.

'I can help,' the male wolf stated simply. He got up and began walking off deeper into the man-made forest. Kagome looked back to the gate and made the decision to follow the large dark brown wolf.

When they finally came to a stop they sat in a clearing like part of the enclosure and for the first time Kagome noticed his icy blue eyes. 'What do you mean you can help?' she asked.

'I know how you can get that human,' he told her as if it was no big deal. Actually Kagome thought he sounded a little sad.

'How?' she questioned once more.

'It's ancient magic and it won't work until the full moon tonight. I brought you out here now because this is where it will be preformed and to warn you. If you decide to go through with this it will hurt and once it starts there will be no turning back and it's something you should only do if you truly love him.'

Kagome thought about this for a moment, she did have a strong feeling for Inuyasha. Yes, she would do it, she would be with Inuyasha. 'I'll do it,' she told him as she moved to leave the clearing until later that night. 'Oh, wait, what's your name?' she asked looking back at him.

'Kouga,' he answered her and retreated back out of the clearing.

'Kouga, thank you,' she said to him even though he was probably gone. Suddenly she heard a call from the front gate and made a dash to go and meet her golden eyed love.

Meanwhile among the trees and bushes surrounding the clearing Kouga still stood. 'You're welcome, Kagome,' he murmured sadly to himself.

'Kouga, no!' came a shout from behind him. He turned around to discover another female wolf with red fur named Ayame.

'What do you want?' he asked with a slight growl. He didn't like Ayame; she was always trying to get him to fall for her. The one problem that kept getting in her way was that he loved another.

'You can't do this, you love her,' she blurted out bluntly. Either she paid that close attention or it was just that obvious.

'What do you care, if she leaves won't it make it that much easier for you?' he asked an edge of irritation in his voice.

'Kouga, I just want you to be happy and if she's it then I won't let you throw away your chance,' Ayame continued her argument. She looked into his eyes hoping that he would understand what she was trying to do for him and change his mind about letting Kagome go.

'Yes, well, this is what will make Kagome happy so . . . I have to do it,' Kouga admitted and walked off leaving Ayame behind.

_I won't let this happen, _Ayame thought to herself and ran off to find Kagome. She wasn't that hard to find. Everyday around this time she was in the same place with the same person. As Ayame came up on the gate she found Kagome sitting there with 'Inuyasha.' He was talking to her even though he probably thought that she couldn't understand him.

As she approached Ayame let out a low warning growl. Inuyasha turned his head in her direction, "Hey, what's the matter?"

'Kagome we need to talk, now' she said getting Kagome's attention. Kagome looked from Ayame to Inuyasha trying to decide what to do. Finally she nodded her head and got up and moved a way from a slightly confused Inuyasha to follow Ayame.

'What do you want?' Kagome asked. She only remembered this wolf vaguely, that she was obsessed with someone was about all she could remember at the moment.

'Are you really going to put him through this?' she asked her own question. She wasn't going to let Kouga be miserable just because he didn't want to stop Kagome. So, if he wouldn't she would. Kagome gave her a what-are-you-talking-about look. 'Come on, can't you see the pain this is going to cause him?' she rephrased the question.

Kagome had absolutely no idea what this girl was talking about. Maybe she was talking about Inuyasha? 'Do you really think so?' she asked in reference to Inuyasha.

'Yes, it's soooo obvious, and in the end I bet you'll regret it to,' Ayame finished having made her point.

Kagome thought about it for a moment then shook her head. 'No, no you're wrong! I won't hurt him and I won't regret it either,' and with that she rushed off back to Inuyasha who stood confusedly at the gate watching the two wolves. Ayame just stood there shaking her head; at least you couldn't say she didn't try.

The rest of the day went by quietly for Kagome. Inuyasha left and the sun was beginning to set. At this point she decided to head over to the clearing as it was getting dark. She found that it wasn't that easy to find for some reason and by the time she got there the full moon was high in the sky. 'Kouga are you here?' she called out in a whisper like voice.

'Yeah, I'm here,' he answered stepping out of the shadows. Once again Kagome thought he sounded a little sad when he spoke.

'So, now what?' Kagome asked. She didn't receive an answer; instead he just looked up at the sky. Suddenly a ray of moon light shined down on Kagome and she began to feel drowsy as she swayed back and forth a bit, then a rush of pain ran down her spine and she cried out in pain in the form of a howl and she heard another pain filled howl join in. She snapped her head up and the last thing she saw before she blacked out was Kouga also falling to the ground. 'Kouga,' his name slipped from her as she fell into total unconsciousness.

When Kagome awoke the next morning she was alone in the clearing and a set of human cloths was lying next to her. She looked down to find herself human and quite naked. She quickly grabbed the cloths and figured out how to put them on, which wasn't exactly easy for someone who had just hours before been a wolf her entire life.

Now what? Inuyasha wouldn't come for a while if she was any judge of time and she couldn't go near the edge of the cage or else someone might see her. She sighed and came to the conclusion that she should just stay where she was until Inuyasha came.

To her surprise she had long wait. She almost gave up on him as the sun began to set, but she suddenly heard the rattling the gate made when it opened and knew he was coming, she could smell it and rushed off.

An audible sigh was heard from the surrounding trees and a man with long jet black hair and icy blue eyes stepped out of the shadows. Ayame too, came out of hiding and looked at the man sorrowfully. 'All just for her?' she asked him, knowing he could still understand.

"Yeah, just for her," he replied as the sun finally set and he reverted back to being a wolf once more.

'So, is it going to be like this everyday and night?' she asked another question to make sure he knew what he had gotten himself into.

'Yes, it's the curse, because my heart is broken,' he answered, his voice seemed even more depressed as he admitted the way he felt.

'Well, for your sake I hope everything goes ok for Kagome,' Ayame tried to comfort him a little, even though she probably didn't. 'What now?' she decided to change the subject.

'I don't know,' he started and then paused for a minute to think about it, 'Well, I guess I'll leave and try to find love somewhere else.' He walked over to the back of the enclosure and looked at the fence; he could jump it easily and did so.

Just before he ran off Ayame said, 'Don't forget, I'm here for you.' Kouga nodded and ran for it slowly disappearing from sight leaving her by herself.

Kagome ran toward the black haired figure just coming through the gate. "Inuyasha!" she yelled as she hugged the unsuspecting man.

"Do I know you?" Inuyasha asked, thoroughly confused.

"OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry, I guess I do look different since the last time you saw me. I'm Kagome, you know the black wolf," Kagome introduced herself properly.

This however only served to confuse Inuyasha more. "What are you talking about, and what are you doing in here it's dangerous, they could attack you or something now get out," he scolded her while pushing her out the door.

"But--" she started but was cut off, "--No buts, now get out of here the zoo will close soon and I'm already late for my job to feed these stupid things," and with that he slammed the gate shut.

Tears started to leak down her face and Kagome wondered what they could be. As a wolf she had never cried before. Suddenly she felt the cloths she was wearing pull and tighten on her body. When everything stopped she wriggled out of the cloths and found herself a wolf once more. Well at least this got her, her freedom and she took off heading for the exit avoiding any human contact.

InuyashaForever1989- Yay that's the first chapter. Chapter two will start a few years after this whole mess.

Inu - I'm not that mean!

IF - Oh get over it. Be good and maybe I'll put you back in, in a later chapter.

Inu - WHY YOU-- (lunges for IF again)

IF - I thought you learned this lesson last time. (has Sess take Inu away) Thanks Sess.

IF - Anyway, bye, bye. Don't forget to review please ^_^


	2. Chance Encounter

InuyashaForever1989 - And we're back with another exciting chapter of 'Love By Day or By Night' and as a reminder this chapter will take place a few years after the zoo incident.

Kouga - Yeah after dog breath breaks Kagome's heart.

Inu - WHAT'S THAT SUPOSSED TO MEAN?!

IF - Oh for the love of-- calm down, that is what you did after all.

Inu - Kagome help me out here.

Kag - Inuyasha, how could you? (starts to cry)

Kouga - NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE GONE AND DONE MUTT FACE!! (chases after Inu)

Inu - I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!! (runs from Kouga)

Kag - (looks back up grinning) That was to easy.

IF - Maybe for Inu but I think Kouga's just looking for an excuse to pound him. Well that's enough time wasted I think now let's get on with it. (calls Kouga off of Inu)

By the way sorry to all you Inu fans I just like to pick on him ; - )

--

Chapter 1- Chance Encounter

Kagome was driving down the road in her red sports car as her mind wondered back to that day, she didn't really remember much. Nothing about the spell or the wolf that had cast it; she had wanted to forget all about that day and Inuyasha so she had; she even moved away from the town nearby the zoo. It's been about five years and she now fits into society quite nicely, except for the fact that she doesn't go out after sunset, or at least not that anyone knows of.

All her friends find it a bit strange but they don't question her on it anymore. She couldn't go out even if she wanted to anyway, not with anyone else around. She found that while at sunset she becomes a wolf she also becomes human again at sunrise. The first day she found that out she spent a most embarrassing time in the woods naked. Anyway since then she had gotten a job, a house, and human friends and none of it had been easy.

She was currently on her way to meet her friends. It was the middle of winter and it was snowing. Kagome smiled, she loved the snow; actually, she loved to run in the snow. She pulled up to a small café. She quickly got out of the car and ran inside.

Did she mention she only loved the snow when she was a wolf and she had nice warm fur? When Kagome looked around she came upon all her friends. Sango and Miroku looked like they were fighting again and Sesshomaru seemed distracted, then she noticed that he was watching his daughter Rin who was running around the café.

Kagome walked up to the tall black haired man and asked, "Where's Kagura?"

"Visiting her sister, Kana, some sort of family emergency," he answered and then moved to go get Rin as she had started to annoy some people at one of the tables. Kagome made a mental note to ask Kagura what had happened when she got back. She then turned to the bickering couple to her left.

"You guys almost done fighting?" she asked, drawing their attention. Sango looked like she was about to say something and out of the corner of her eye Kagome saw Miroku move slightly and Kagome knew exactly what was coming next.

"HENTAI!!" Sango screamed and the sound of a slap seemed to echo through the café. Yep, she'd seen that coming. "Now, we're done," Sango stated as calmly as she could.

Kagome shook her head and rolled her eyes. "When are you two just going to get it over with and get married already?" she asked her friend teasingly. The two just stared at her with a little surprise. Kagome got her own look of surprise. "No way," she stated. Sango blushed and showed Kagome her hand and the diamond ring on her finger. Both girls started to scream. "I can't believe it, when?"

"Last night, when we went out for dinner. He took me to that fancy restaurant that I had been dieing to go to and he got down on one knee and everyone stared at us. Oh my god, Kagome, it was amazing."

"Wait so what were you fighting about?"

"Oh, that? Just wedding details," Sango brushed it off.

At that moment Sesshomaru came back to the table, Rin following quietly behind him. "Sesshomaru did you hear?" Kagome asked him.

"Yes, I did. It was kind of hard not to," he said. "I have an announcement of my own."

"Like what? You're already married," Kagome pointed out.

Sesshomaru just rolled his eyes and continued. "My half-brother will be coming to visit."

"You have a brother?" everyone asked at once.

"Half-brother," he corrected.

"Well, we didn't know you had one of those either," Kagome pointed out.

"Younger?" Sango asked.

"Yes," Sesshomaru answered curtly.

"I can tell. If he were older you would show more respect for him," Sango pointed out.

"Why would you think that?"

"It's just the way you are. You're a sort of old fashioned, old world kind of guy."

"Oh, Sango, you realize what we have to do now that you're engaged," Kagome said as she looked at her best friend.

Sango smiled over at Kagome and they both said at the same time, "Shopping!"

Miroku looked over at Sesshomaru and said, "You'd think they were still in high school or something." Sesshomaru simply nodded in agreement.

"I'll come by about ten, ok?" Sango asked Kagome.

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Wait, don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"I'll just stop by work and bring some stuff home is all," Kagome said as she dug through her purse for her cell phone. She dialed a number and someone at the office where Sango and Kagome worked picked up.

_'Hello?' _the woman on the phone asked.

"Oh, Sara, hi. Could you look on my desk and find a couple folders that I left there and get them together for me. I'm going to take them home 'cause I can't come in tomorrow."

_'Sure no problem, Kagome,' _Sara said. _'And I'll tell Masato that you can't come in too.'_

"Thanks, you're the best. I'll be by in little while to pick up the papers, bye," Kagome said as she hung up the phone. "All set," she said turning back to Sango. "And while we're out shopping we can talk about wedding details.

Then the conversation turned to other things. Rin gave a long and detailed story about how she was doing in school and such. Everyone ordered something and eventually it started to get late. Kagome looked out the store's large front window and saw that the sun was starting to set.

"I've got to go," she said as she put on her blue jacket that she had set down on the chair and set the money for her part of the tab on the table.

Everyone else looked out the window and realized what her rush was. "Kagome one of these days we're going to have to get you help for this phobia thing of yours," Sango said also standing up.

"It's not a phobia; I'm not scared of being out at night. I just don't like it," Kagome explained, even though the last bit was a lie. She loved being out at night. The cool air rushing by her, the dirt under her paws, and the starry sky above; it was one of her favorite things in the world, even if it could get lonely sometimes.

"Riiiight," Sango said shaking her head. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Kagome called back just as she was walking out the door. She walked to her car and got in but she had no plans on going home. She drove her car off in the opposite direction and she drove to the edge of town were she pulled off the main road and onto a dirt one that led to the edge of the woods.

She got out of her car a little ways from the woods and took a bag with her. Just as the sun was setting she got undressed and put all her cloths in the bag and hid it behind a rock and as the sun finally went down she let the change take over her body. Thick black fur began to cover her skin, her bones twisted and contorted, and she was soon a wolf once more. At the very least the change hadn't hurt again since the first day. Actually, it was kind of a rush as she felt the magic course through her body.

She broke out into a sprint and ran off farther into the woods. Most of the snow had been blocked by the trees so there were patches of dirt mixed in with the snow. Kagome stopped suddenly; there was a scent on the air. It was foreign to the forest, but not something she hadn't smelled before.

It was another wolf. Kagome hadn't seen any wolves in this area so it was strange. Although perhaps not seeing as she also had never been very far into the woods. Kagome laid down and crawled on her belly toward the strange scent. She poked her head through a large bush and she saw a large, brown, male wolf sitting in the middle of a clearing looking up at the full moon in the sky.

A flash of a similar scene went through Kagome's mind but she shook it off, literally. The bush shook and the wolf turned his attention to it. He had the most amazing blue eyes and they seemed familiar somehow, but once again Kagome paid no attention to it.

He walked over to the bush and sniffed it apparently he caught her scent and he growled at the bush. 'Who's there?' he demanded.

Kagome got up which made the bush shake more and then she pushed her way through it. The next thing she knew something ran into her, she assumed it was the other wolf, and then she was being pinned against the ground on her back by the much larger wolf.

'Hey! What's the big idea?' Kagome asked, and she sounded pissed. There was no reason for him to treat her like this. The brown wolf seemed to widen his eyes and he backed up off of her.

'Sorry, uh. . .'

'Kagome,' she supplied

'Kagome,' the wolf echoed.

They stood for a moment in silence until Kagome felt too awkward and decided to ask, 'So, what's you name?'

'Kouga,' he answered.

'Kouga?' Kagome repeated to herself. The name sounded vaguely familiar, like she'd heard it somewhere before. Kagome put her ears back in thought but all that came up was that flash of a moon lit clearing so she decided to drop it.

'Are you from around here? I've never seen any other wolves in this area before.' Kagome asked.

'I came here about a year ago. I usually don't go this close to the edge of the forest,' he explained.

'Oh, I don't go very deep into the forest. So I guess that's why we've never seen each other,' Kagome voiced her thoughts.

'Hmmm,' Kouga agreed, nodding his head. Kouga tilted his head, put his ears back, and stared at Kagome. Kagome put her ears back and shrunk away from him.

'What?' Kagome asked.

Kouga shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts. 'Nothing,' was all he said and he started to walk off into the woods.

Kagome perked her ears up and ran after him. 'Hey, wait!' she called. Kouga looked back and saw Kagome chasing after him so he slowed down and eventually stopped.

'What?' Kouga asked.

'Well,' Kagome started but then stopped. She didn't know what she had gone after him for, but he seemed nice and she hadn't seen another wolf in a long time. 'Where are you going?'

Kouga turned around fully to get a better look at Kagome. 'Nowhere really,' he answered and Kagome just imagined him shrugging his shoulders if he could.

'Nowhere, huh?"

'Yeah, you feel like coming along?' he asked.

Kagome looked surprised and then looked back toward where the edge of the forest was and back to Kouga. 'Sure,' she said, if not a bit uncertainly. Kouga took off again and Kagome followed him again.

Kouga was faster than Kagome and at one point Kagome lost sight of him. Kagome stopped short and looked around and suddenly Kouga came up from behind her still running and Kagome ran after him with a new determination.

Kagome wasn't sure how far they had run but she hadn't had this much fun in a long time. They weaved in between the trees and dodged around bushes. Kagome had to really to keep up but working that hard was just an amazing rush.

After a while Kagome had lost sight of Kouga again. She kept running for the spot where she had last seen him and as she came through the tree line she tried to stop but didn't make it in time and wound up in a small river.

Kouga sat on the bank and watched as Kagome climbed up out of the water. 'Very funny,' Kagome said as she glared at him and shook off the water a bit.

'I know,' he replied smugly. Kagome circled around him and put Kouga between her and the river. Kouga watched her carefully. Suddenly Kagome jumped at him and pushed him into the water.

'Now that's funny,' she said showing all her teeth in a wry smile. Kouga pulled himself from the water.

'Funny, huh?' Kouga asked and then he shook himself off and water flew all over the place including at Kagome.

'Hey!'

'Yes?' Kouga asked now smiling himself. If she could have Kagome would have rolled her eyes. Kouga started to walk along the river and Kagome walked beside him. A couple minutes of walking later Kagome started to hear a dull roar in the distance.

'A waterfall?' Kagome asked and looked over to Kouga.

'Yeah,' was all he said back. It was a decent sized water fall at a point in the river; Kagome had never seen it before. Come to think of it she had never seen this river either. She must have been pretty deep into the forest. Nothing looked familiar anymore. It was also getting pretty late; she would have to get back to the edge of the forest soon, before the sun rose. She did not want to wander around the forest human and naked.

'Um, Kouga, I should probably get going,' Kagome said catching his attention.

Kouga looked up and noticed a subtle lightening of the sky. He knew why she wanted to leave. He remembered her, even though she didn't seem to remember him. Kouga mentally sighed. 'Follow me,' he said, but he sounded strangely sad.

The clearing flashed in her mind again and she saw a pair of blue piercing eyes. Kagome shook the image from her head and followed after Kouga until they came to a small path, probably just used by deer and such.

'This path runs all the way to the edge of the forest, it should get you where ever it is you need to get,' Kouga explained.

'Thank you,' Kagome said. She quickly leaned in and rubbed the side of her face against his then ran off down the trail and into the night.

'You're welcome, Kagome,' Kouga said into the cold air.

InuyashaForever1989: And that's it for this Chapter. Yep, Kagome's forgotten all about Kouga.

Kouga: Yeah but she'll remember me, right?

IF: Who knows?

Kouga: What!?

Kag: What's going on over here? (to Kouga) Who are you?

Kouga: Kagome!

Inu: Hahahaha!

Kouga: Stop laughing mutt-face.

Inu: Make me ya mangy wolf.

Kouga: Why you-- (chases after Inu)

Inu: (runs and locks himself in another room)

Kouga: (pounding on the door) get out here dog breath!

IF: See what you start Kagome? And Kouga don't you dare break that door.

Kag: Yeah, I know. (smiles)

IF: Alright then just so long as you know. Don't forget to review!! No flames please. And I'd just like to say before anyone points it out. I know Kagome doesn't have a birth certificate or SS# or anything like that but it's a fan fiction people, of an anime I might add, not everything has to make sense 100% of the time. Thank you for reading.


	3. Some Explaining

InuyashaForever1989: I'm baaaaaaack! And I've brought you all a brand new chapter of Love by day or by night.

Inu: Who cares?

IF: My fans care.

Inu: You have fans?

Kag: Inuyasha stop bothering her!

Inu: Why should I?

IF: Well I do control the story and you never know what might happen to you.

Kouga: Yeah, be careful mutt face.

Inu: You wouldn't do anything really bad to me . . . . Would you?

IF: Eh, probably not, but if I were you I wouldn't provoke me.

Inu: Fine!

Kag: Good boy!

IF: Now on with the story. (on a side note to a reviewer called Miko *if you're still reading*: I pretty much know where this story is going but thank you for your offer to help. And also Kouga left the Zoo the same time Kagome did, no wondering around the enclosure, it's in the prologue just after Kagome runs off to meet Inu in her new human form)

- Chapter 2: Some Explaining

'Thank you,' Kagome said. She quickly leaned in and rubbed the side of her face against his then ran off down the trail and into the night.

'You're welcome, Kagome,' Kouga said into the cold air.

Kagome was back at the edge of the forest again where she had left her cloths just as the sun was rising. She transformed back into a human and as she was getting dressed she thought about how strange it had been to see another wolf again. She hadn't seen any around here and so she hadn't seen any since she escaped the 'zoo.' He had seemed familiar somehow, especially those blue eyes. Kagome tried to remember but came up with nothing although she could have sworn she had heard that name before. Of course how uncommon could a name like Kouga be any way.

Kagome sighed and looked out over the city. She sighed again and headed towards her car. Kagome still had a few hours before Sango was supposed to come over to go shopping so she decided to drive home and take a nap.

Kagome drove through the empty streets and finally pulled up to a small blue house that was trimmed with white. She pulled into the drive way, got out of her car, got out her keys and unlocked the door to her house. Before she went in, she noticed some papers in her mail box. She had completely forgotten to pick up those papers but it looked like Sango hadn't. _Note to self, thank Sango like crazy._

Inside the house was rather plain, she didn't have a lot of furniture. The living room had a couch, coffee table, and a good size television set. Kagome always wondered why she had bought a white couch; it always showed all the fur that came off her when she spent the night in the house, sometimes even when she didn't go near it.

Kagome walked into the den where she had a desk with a computer and a chair with wheels. She put the papers on the desk. "So much for that nap," she sighed to herself. Walking over to her computer, she turned it on and walked out of the den, back into the living room and from there she went into the kitchen.

She went over to the refrigerator, opened it, and took out three eggs. She then grabbed a plate out of a cabinet and a fork from a drawer and set it all down on the counter next to the stove. She scrambled the eggs and put them in a pan on the stove and took out some bread and put it in the toaster. When she finished making her breakfast she practically inhaled it and went back to the den to do the work she had decided to take home so she could have the day off.

Kagome sat down in front of the computer and stared blankly at the picture of a howling wolf that was the wallpaper of her computer screen. She remembered the first time she had tried to use a computer, it had been a disaster. She had spent at least a half hour trying to figure out just what it did and the fist thing she clicked on opened a page that downloaded a virus and everything had frozen. That had been when she had met Sango and the woman had saved her butt from being fired on her first day at work.

Kagome got to work and got so into to it that hours later she didn't even hear the doorbell ring. Luckily Sango knew where the spare key was and she let herself in. She found Kagome in the den with her face glued to the computer screen. Sango shook her head and tapped Kagome on the shoulder to get her attention.

Kagome jumped in her seat and let out a startled gasp. "Sango, don't do that," the raven haired girl whined.

"I knocked, I rang the doorbell, and I was even standing here a minute waiting for you to notice me. How much more warning do you need?" Sango asked.

"Sorry," Kagome apologized. "I just had all this work and-" Kagome was cut off when Sango leaned down to look closely at Kagome's face.

"You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?" she stated more than asked her best friend.

"Well, no," Kagome said.

"Just as I thought. You work too much for your own good Kagome. I had a feeling I shouldn't have left that work in your mail box; I knew you would find it somehow," Sango said as she shut off the computer screen. "Now come on we're going to the mall."

"It's not like I worked all night. I didn't even get the work until the sun rose," Kagome whined as she was dragged out of her house and to Sango's little black car that was parked out front.

"Oh, really, then what exactly did you do last night?" Sango asked doubtfully.

"I went out," Kagome said vaguely and then realized her mistake.

"Out where?" Sango asked and stopped her pulling, suddenly interested. As far as she knew her friend never went out at night.

"Just a walk."

"There's something you're not telling me," Sango stated, certain Kagome was leaving out some vital detail. A blush came to Kagome's cheeks as she thought about Kouga and how she had spent a good part of the night with him.

Sango studied her friends face for a second before her eyes went wide. "Oh, my, god. You met someone!" she stated happily.

"No, not really, I mean . . ." Kagome left off there, not knowing exactly what to say to the overly excited girl.

"I can tell just by that look on your face."

"Well, I guess I did."

"There's no I guess about it. Either you met a guy or not," Sango pressed.

"Ok! So I met a guy. So what? It's not like it was a big deal," Kagome finally caved in.

"Of course it's a big deal. You haven't had a boyfriend for as long as I've known you and I say it's about time," Sango said as she got into her car.

Kagome walked around to the other side and got into the passenger seat. "It's not like I'm going to go out with him, I told you it's no big deal."

"Well, _when _you do decide to go out with him, I want to meet him," Sango told her, putting an emphasis on the word when.

Kagome made a mental comment that she didn't think Sango would appreciate meeting Kouga. She also didn't mention that it would work anyway seeing as he was a wolf and Kagome was human half the time. "Yeah, you'll be the first to know when it happens," she said out loud.

Sango nodded her head and started up her car and drove down the street. "And if a guy was all it took to get you out of your house at night I could have set you up with someone years ago," Sango added the last part just to tease her friend.

Kagome just leaned back in her seat determined to just let the whole subject go but Sango wouldn't have it. "So what was he like?"

"What was who like?" Kagome asked hoping she would drop it, but this was Sango we were talking about.

"Don't you start with me! This guy you met what was he like? Oh, what was his name? Do I know him? What does he look like?"

"Calm down, Sango," Kagome instructed her friend. Kagome stalled a few more seconds but a sideways glance from Sango told her this was unavoidable. "He was ok I guess. He seemed nice enough and you don't know him," and Kagome left it at that.

Sango cleared her throat purposefully. Kagome still wouldn't budge and Sango sighed. "Well? What was his name? You also forgot what he looks like."

_Well,_ Kagome thought, _it's not like she's actually going to find him or something._ "His name is Kouga and he has brown hair and blue eyes."

"Is that all? No tall, dark, and handsome stuff?"

"Well," Kagome didn't know what to say. _I mean he was a rather large wolf, but does that make him tall by human standards? And he did have dark brown fur._ This is what Kagome was thinking when really Sango just wanted to know why she wasn't gushing over the guy.

Sango sighed again. "Alright, alright, you're off the hook for now, but we will discuss this later," Sango warned her friend.

Not much later they arrived at the mall and after that it was just a blur of shopping and lots of talking with a bit of wedding planning on the side. Finally things wound down as the girls and their shopping bags crashed down on a bench just outside the mall entrance.

"Do you want to come over to the apartment tonight for dinner?" Sango asked as she looked over the parking lot. Her car was way in the back and she wasn't quite sure if all the bags would fit.

"I don't know, I still have that work to finish and I think I'm just gonna sleep after that," Kagome explained her plans for the night.

"You're one night out in, as far as I know, 5 years you spend with some guy I've never heard of and you won't even come have dinner with your best friend?" Sango feigned hurt.

"Come on Sango," Kagome whined and looked her friend in the eyes. Kagome did look really tired. No sleep plus a day of shopping really wears a girl out.

"Fine, but you owe me," Sango stated.

"Don't I always," Kagome countered with a smile. Sango nodded and they made there trek to the car and by some miracle they got everything to fit in that little car.

"Sango, if you're so fond of these shopping trips why don't you get a bigger car?" Kagome asked the obvious.

"And trade in my baby, no way."

After getting her bags inside, although she didn't have as much as Sango, and getting Sango to finally leave she sat back down at her computer that she had been forced to leave and pushed the button to turn the screen back on.

Kagome looked at the clock. She figured she had a couple hours before the sunset and she could no longer use the computer but she was also hungry. _Well, it's not like I have to go into work tomorrow anyway,_ Kagome thought to herself as she saved her work and shut down her computer.

She wandered into her kitchen and looked around her cabinets and then in the refrigerator. When was the last time she had gone shopping? For food? She could order out she guessed.

Kagome pulled open a drawer and picked out an address book except this little book only listed her very favorite places to eat. What did she feel in the mood for tonight that would deliver fast before she couldn't answer the door? _Oh, the number for the Chinese place down the street! _(A/N: guess what I'm having for dinner tonight ^_^)

She dialed a number and placed an order for one and was told it would be a half hour wait. Kagome sighed, _half hour huh?_ she walked into the living room and turned on her little used TV. She didn't watch it very often, but that's because she usually had a lot to do in a day before she became a wolf at night.

Now all she could do was sit there and channel surf. Mostly she watched all the dramas that Sango watched. Even though she didn't really care for them. This one's in the hospital, this one loves that one, and that one is cheating on her with him or something like that. Anyway, channel after channel clicked by.

- (meanwhile with Sango)

Sango burst through the door of her shared house with all her bags in hand. "Sango what did you do? Buy out the mall?" Miroku asked. He was always amazed at how much she could come home with considering she already had a lot. But he guessed stuff like shopping was different for people who were born with money.

Even though Sango's family was rich you would actually never know it, unless you saw her shop of course. She even got a regular job because she didn't just want to be some heiress who did nothing all day but spend money. Now she was an heiress who worked all day and occasionally went on shopping benders.

"Did I really buy all that much?" She asked with big eyes.

"Don't you always?" Miroku shot back playfully. Sango sighed and set her bags down by the couch in the living room. She'd have to sort through it later to put everything in it's place. "So I take it your day with Kagome went well?" he asked walking around the other side of the couch to sit down.

"Oh that's right you are never going to believe what happened!" Sango was suddenly all excited.

Miroku raised an eyebrow at the love of his life. "Ooook, so?"

"Kagome went out last night!" Sango blurted and Miroku's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"She what?"

"Yeah, she went out, and with a guy too."

"A guy? Really? Who?"

"Well, she wasn't very talkative about it, but from what I manage to get, his name is Kouga. He's got brown hair and blue eyes." Sango listed off the things she could remember.

"Hmmm, it couldn't be," Miroku mumbled to himself.

"What's up?" Sango asked, drawing Miroku out of his thoughts.

"Well, I work with someone named Kouga."

"REALLY!" Sango just couldn't believe that Miroku actually knew this guy.

"Well, yeah, except he has black hair," he continued and Sango deflated a little. "But he definitely has blue eyes." Sango looked at him confused. Could it really be the same guy? "Do you think maybe Kagome got the hair color wrong?"

"I don't know. It's an awfully strange thing to get wrong about someone. So, what's this Kouga guy like?" Sango asked brushing the hair color aside for a moment.

"To be honest I don't really talk with the guy. He's one of the construction workers."

"Hmp, the high and mighty executive is to important to mingle with the laborers?" Sango asked teasingly. Miroku helped run a big construction company. He did stuff like handle money and decide which projects they should take on and stuff like that.

"You know that has nothing to do with it. I just don't have time to talk to anyone at work unless it's work related and the actual construction isn't part of my job." Miroku defended himself even though Sango was only kidding.

Sango laughed and shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I'm sure I can think of a few things," Miroku said suggestively and soon they moved on to other things.

- - - - - - (Earlier that day)

'I can't believe I saw her again after all this time,' Kouga thought as he reach his little cabin like house in the middle of the woods. Ever since he'd left the zoo he'd just been wandering around from forest to forest, getting a job here and there. He currently did some construction work.

The sun had finally come up and he walked through the door stark naked. He had laid out some cloths on a chair and picked them up as he walked by. He pulled them on and took a good look around his place. It wasn't anything special. One door lead to the bed room, another to the bathroom and then the main room was the kitchen/dinning area/living room.

He knew he hadn't gone shopping lately so he didn't really have anything for breakfast. He had actually planned on hunting that night but meeting Kagome had thrown that plan out the window. It was far too early to go anywhere to get something to eat so now what?

He decided to get some sleep and worry about food later. The whole sleep thing didn't work out so well. He laid on his bed but all he could think about was Kagome. Granted she was all he thought about for the past 5 years anyway, but now that he knew she was here and after the night they had spent together.

He had never really spent any time with her back at the zoo. She hadn't really liked anyone, but he had watched her and picked up on little things that had just drawn him to her. The way she would sing when she thought everyone had gone to sleep, and the little things she would draw in the dirt while she was seemingly moping around. Just things that on one else ever seemed to notice.

Also, she had always seemed so sad and he decided that he wanted to see her happy at least once. He had made up his mind to approach her when Inuyasha had come into the picture. Remembering the zoo keeper and then the fact that Kagome had been a wolf when they had met stirred something in Kouga. It meant that he had broken her heart, otherwise she would be human all the time. Kouga became very angry then and wished he could find the man so he could tear him limb from limb. _Could he really be that hard to find? _he wondered then brushed the thought aside.

Now what to do about Kagome? She was here and she was free. Just maybe he could finally get her to fall for him. Just like he had wanted her to before. He would try, he decided.

The only question he had left was: why in the world didn't she remember him at all?

- to be continued

InuyashaForever1989: Well, that's it for this chapter.

Inu: What was that?

Kouga: I'm with the mutt on this one. It didn't really seem like anything got done here.

IF: Call it character development mostly.

Sesshy: I didn't get any character development.

IF: Hmmm, you know you're right. My bad ^_^' umm, maybe next time?

Sesshy: Maybe?

IF: I'll figure something out. Not sure how big of a role Sesshomaru is actually going to have here.

Inu: Why not just write him out. Good riddance.

IF: Uh oh *covers my eyes*

Sesshy: *growling*

IF: Bye everyone don't forget to review and stuff! Ahhh! *dodges flying chair* Sesshy don't throw that stuff!


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